9 month not moving - HELP!

[Speakyminder]

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has any tips to get DS moving. He sits well, rolls fine around his cot at night, but during the day he will just sit and not attempt to move anywhere. Then he shouts until I stand him up on his legs and he just stands and plays, but he needs me to hold him to balance. He’s strong on his legs and can support his weight but cannot balance at all and is nowhere near pulling himself up.

He hates being on his front (only lies there to sleep) and cannot do anything with his arms, only pivot around in a circle. He can’t move anywhere, he only bum shuffles millimetres before giving up and shouting.

He spends most of the day whining for me to move him around/stand him up, but makes no attempt to do this himself. It’s like he hates making an effort.

Please, does anyone have any tips on how to help him start moving. I’ve tried putting toys further away for him to reach, food in a trail, sitting away and holding my arms out, crawling around myself. Nothing is working! Help! I genuinely believe he wants to be on the move but gives up too easily - he has absolutely zero patience.

He’s also a very big boy - well over the 99th centile for height (tallest baby my HV has had in years) and 95th for weight. Could this be making a difference? He’s bloody heavy and my back is in half supporting him all day long.

It could well be his size. I'm sure I've seen other posters saying that they had larger babies who moved later. Will he stand at the sofa for a few minutes if you put a couple of toys on there for him to play with? I did this and DS started to move using the sofa for support.

@CadyEastman I feel sure I’ve heard this too. It’s as though his arms can’t pull his weight up .. or he’s just really lazy/impatient which is also a total possibility!

He does sometimes balance on the sofa but has a habit of whirling around to try to grab me and falling over unless I’m holding him. I haven’t tried favourite toys on there to encourage him,though, so that’s a good idea - thank you

I would say to progressively increase his tummy time - I know he doesn't like it but I don't think he will learn to crawl otherwise. The arm strength he gets from it will also help to develop the ability to pull himself up as well.

No help but I’m here with you.

mine is 98th centile for height and weight too, now 10 months.

although since 9 months we have progressed from just sitting to now going from sitting to crawl position and desperately trying to crawl and can sit themselves up from lying down.

we also can’t pull up, but desperate for me to put in a standing position. I’m sure it’s a size thing, my baby is the same size as older toddlers.

Have you tried a couple of toys on the sofa yet @Speakyminder?

@Twocents I do still try to encourage tummy time, even if he’s whining, as long as he’s not crying. He tolerates it a bit but just wants to be up. I’m worried that no tummy time will mean he won’t build strength though so I’ll keep trying!

@CadyEastman Yes! Tried it today and it worked! He balanced himself, got abit wobbly when reaching out, but I was behind him just incase. We’ll keep practising and hopefully he’ll get stronger that way to
maybe sofa cruise a bit.

@Matildasfortune Ahh I feel your pain! I do think it must be harder for them with the extra height/weight. He did try to crawl from sitting today - but he totally misjudged it, threw himself forward and smacked his head on the floor (luckily on a soft mat) before I could grab him 🙈 it’s the first time he’s tried making a move forward so I hope that the fall hasn’t put him off. If he ever does crawl, I think it’ll be from the sitting position.

If he really doesn't like tummy time have you tried taking him swimming? It might help to build up a bit of core strength

I'm sure you're doing everything, it's so hard when they keep whinging. I did notice that my DD mood improved hugely when she was able to crawl. I agree with pp that big babies take longer to get moving!

@CadyEastman Oo that’s a good idea. He’s been swimming a couple of times but not regularly so I can take him a bit more.

@Twocents Ohh it’s good to hear that the whinging might improve when he’s moving. He is so much happier when he’s on his feet, balancing and taking some steps so I really hope it’s the case!